Performance and ConclusionsThe a65 can start up and a grab a shot in about 0.8 second, and delivers a shutter lag of just 0.1 second. The camera is a speed demon when it comes to burst shooting, capturing an image every 0.13 second when shooting in Raw mode. It did much better than our Editors' Choice Nikon D5100 in this regard—that camera required 1.4 seconds to start and took 0.33 second between photos. You'll want to make sure that you're using a fast memory card when shooting with the a65. I tested the camera with SanDisk cards that were rated at 20MBps, 30MBps, and 95MBps. After the 14-shot buffer was filled shooting slowed to a crawl with slowest of the three cards—there was a 2.9 second wait between the 14th and 15th photo, and that gap kept extending as the card struggled to keep up with the camera. The 30MBps card did a bit better, slowing to 1.5 seconds between photos after the buffer filled. The 95MBps a card was actually an overkill, as it performed just a tad better than the 30MBps version.

To put things in perspective, the $6,000 Nikon D4 can grab 10 frames per second in Raw mode—just a bit faster than the a65—but can keep going for 100 shots when using a pro-grade XQD memory card. Considering its price, the a65's 9 frame per second capture rate is impressive, even if you are limited to 14 shots before the camera slows down a bit. You should be wary of using slower memory with this camera—it'll do fine for single shots, but if you are in a situation where you want to grab a bunch of photos in succession, you may find yourself missing shots as the camera struggles to recover from burst shooting.

I used Imatest to measure the sharpness of the photos captured by the camera. The included 18-55mm kit lens was a huge disappointment—it struggled mightily to create sharp images when paired with the camera's demanding 24-megapixel image sensor. At 18mm f/3.5 it only recorded 1,356 lines per picture height—well short of the 1,800 lines that mark a sharp photo. It improved a little bit at 35mm and 55mm, recording 1,465 and 1,761 lines respectively. Still, you'll be better served with a better lens with this camera. Sony provided a few additional lenses for testing, including the 16-50mm f/2.8 ($699.99) that is included as the kit lens for the Alpha 77 ($1,999.99). That lens scored better than 1,800 lines at every tested focal length at its maximum aperture. The a65 is available without the 18-55mm for $899.99 if you'd like to put the cash towards better-quality glass.

Imatest also measures image noise at higher ISO settings. The camera can be set as high as ISO 16000, although images are quite noisy when you get to that point. The a65 was able to keep noise below 1.5 percent, the point where an image becomes overly grainy, through ISO 1600. Noise is around 2 percent at ISO 3200, and 2.2 percent at 6400. Lower resolution D-SLRs like the 14-megapixel Nikon D3100 ($699.95, 4 stars) can do a better job keeping noise under control—that camera is able to keep it below 1.5 percent through ISO 6400.

The a65 is capable of capturing some stunning video at a variety of quality levels. It can grab AVCHD footage at 1080p60, 1080i60, and 1080p24 at a few different frame rates. The 60p footage is incredibly smooth and the 24p setting can give your videos the cinematic flicker that is familiar to fans of classic cinema. The autofocus system does a great job keeping up with the video, and I wasn't able to hear the sound of the camera changing focus on the audio track—although wind noise was an issue when shooting outside. You can connect an external microphone to the camera to lessen this effect, although be aware that Sony has continued to use Minolta's proprietary hot shoe design, so you'll need to track down an adapter to mount a standard shoe-mount mic. An adapter can be picked up from a photo specialty shop for less than $20.

You get plenty of connectivity options. Standard mini-USB and mini-HDMI ports allow you to connect to a computer or HDTV. There are also connectors for a wired remote control and an optional AC adapter. The camera supports SD, SDHC, SDXC, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo, and Memory Stick PRO-HG HX Duo memory cards. It also has a built-in GPS receiver, which can pick up your physical location and add it to your photos. The GPS works quite well, although it did take a few minutes to acquire a signal. The receiver can use GPS Assist data, which can be downloaded from the Internet and loaded to the camera to increase the speed at which a signal is acquired.

The Sony Alpha 65 is one heck of a camera. Its 24-megapixel sensor makes it possible to print huge images, and it can fire off more than a dozen images at 9 frames per second with continuous autofocus. The OLED EVF is larger and brighter than the pentamirror finders that are found in most entry-level and mid-range D-SLRs, like the one in the Canon Rebel T3i. Its video quality is excellent, and the camera's autofocus works well when recording footage. It can shoot much faster than other D-SLRs in this price range, roughly tripling the speed of our Editors' Choice Nikon D5100—but you'll need to invest in a fast memory card to take full advantage of the camera's speed.

The kit isn't perfect, though. The included 18-55mm lens is its Achilles' Heel. Like many other 18-55mm lenses, it is of middling optical quality. A lower-resolution camera might not expose its flaws, but the a65's 24-megapixel APS-C sensor magnifies the lens's issues. Sony has a number of excellent lenses in its lineup if you want to shoot with better glass, but you'll have to consider that cost when budgeting for the camera. If you have already invested in Sony or Minolta Maxxum lenses, the a65 is an excellent platform for using them—but you'll want to make sure that they are of higher quality design, as the a65 will expose every flaw in a lower-quality lens.

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Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at retailer B&H Photo, where he wrote thousands upon thousands of product descriptions, blog posts, and reviews. Since then he's shot with hundreds of camera models, ranging from pocket point-and-shoots to medium format...
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